First FY2017 Funding Wave Released

By: John Harrington

5/26/2017

On May 26, 2017, USAC announced the first FY 2017 funding wave. It included $48.6 million in funding commitments for 4,920 applicants, or about 1 out of every 5 applicants. News of the first wave comes 36 days prior to the July 1 start of the funding year. This is an improvement over the first funding wave of FY2016. That wave included $17.7 million for 2,138 applicants and was issued 15 days prior to the start of the funding year.

The date of a funding commitment decision letter is very important and there are many advantages for schools and libraries who receive their funding commitment decisions quickly:

The earlier that a funding commitment decision letter is issued, the more likely an applicant is to utilize their E-rate discounts.

Having a funding commitment decision prior to the start of services being delivered allows applicants to receive their discounts directly from their vendor rather than seeking reimbursement after the fact.

Some projects can only be completed when a school is not in session.

Funding delays increase the number of service substitutions that are required, thereby furthering delaying the receipt of funding.

A larger funding wave that impacts more applicants and is delivered earlier before the start of the funding year is an improvement. By this standard, FY2017 is off to a better start than FY2016 (which still has $357.6 million in pending applications.)

The chart below illustrates the amount of funding and the relative timing of the first funding wave for funding years 1999 to 2017.